The Rise of Modern Georgia

1. The Rise of Modern Georgia World War I; The 1920’s; The Crash of 1929; The Great Depression; The New Deal; Roosevelt; Eugene Talmadge; Ellis Arnall; World War II;

2. Changes in the 20th Century • New technology changed the way people worked, lived, and traveled. • Cars • Electric Lights • Trolley Cars • High Rise Buildings • Paved Roads in Rural Areas • Indoor bathrooms • Hot running water

3. The Coming of World War European Alliances • Nations had formed alliances to help each other in case of War. • Germany, Austria-Hungry, and Italy (switches sides) and Ottoman Empire • Britain, France and Russia (later Italy)

4. Immediate Causes of WWI • Assassination of Austrian Arch Duke • Zimmerman Telegram • German Subs attack U.S. Cargo ships in the Atlantic Ocean.

5. Assassination of Archduke • The archduke and arch duchess of Austria-Hungary were assassinated by a young Serbian. • Austria then declared war on Serbia. • Germany then joined in with Austria-Hungry against Serbia.

6. Zimmerman Telegram - 1917 Arthur Zimmerman, a German officer, sent a telegram to Mexico suggesting that if Mexico would go to war against the US, then they could get back land ceded in 1847.

7. German Subs attack US Cargo Ships March 1917 - Several American cargo ships in the Atlantic Ocean were sunk by German submarines. Wilson then asked Congress for a declaration of War on Germany.

8. Georgia’s Connection to WW I

9. Georgia Prospers in WWI • Women stepped in to fill the jobs of men who went away to War. • Agricultural production increased to feed American soldiers. • Farmers were growing wheat, corn, potatoes, peanuts, and other food crops. • Increase demand for cotton for soldier uniforms. • Georgia farmers were prospering again!

10. Life in the 1920’s • By 1922, GA had over 5,500 miles of roads (only 166 were paved) and 1,400 bridges. • The paved roads helped farmers get their produce to market. • By 1920, the nation’s first national radio station began in Pennsylvania. • “Forward Atlanta Commission” was created. This program cost $1 million dollars and told the nation about Atlanta’s transportation; location, climate, resources and workforce

11. “Voice of the South” WSB Radio • In 1922, the South’s first radio station, WSB, began in Atlanta. • The “Voice of the South” broadcast weather, cotton market reports, special music programs and story hours for children. • On Sunday, Georgians could listen to church services in the morning and baseball in the afternoon.

12. The Evil Boll Weevil • A small insect first detected in GA in 1913, the weevil’s larvae could destroy fields of healthy cotton almost overnight. • Within 10 years, cotton harvests fell to less than a third of what they would be in a normal year. • Georgia’s economy was devastated.

13. Drop in Cotton Prices & Drought • At the end of the War, cotton prices fell, and the prosperity came to a halt. • Furthering the above problems, GA experienced the worst drought in history in 1925. • Many Farmers abandoned the fields and headed to the cities for work. • Farmers survived by turning to other crops. Tobacco, peanuts, pecans, vegetables, dairies, livestock, and poultry became the profitable crops in Georgia.

14. The Crash of 1929 • America’s economy was booming, and many Americans invested money in the stock market that they did not have. They were practicing speculation. • Speculation is when someone buys stock, real estate, or any other valuable item at a low price with a plan to sell it soon at a higher price. • The stock market prices dropped enormously and resulted in the stock market crashing. • The policy of Laissez Fair economics is where the government takes a “hands off” approach to regulating businesses

15. The Great Depression • In a business depression, sales, profits, and investments fall, forcing factories to produce less and lay off some workers. As more workers are laid off, it causes demand for new goods to fall, another cycle of unemployment and falling sales begins. • A decade long depression that hit the United States in 1929. The effects were far reaching, changing the federal government’s relationship with the states, people, and businesses.

16. The Great Depression • Americans depended on one another for food, clothing, tools, appliances, homes, cars, roads, water, electricity, protection, etc. • All of our industries and businesses were dependent upon one another. • When the Great Depression hit America, when one business failed, many others would fail as well. • The depression spread from one industry to the next until almost every American was affected.

17. Depression & Politics • By 1930, the State of GA could no longer pay its bills. Public School Teacher were owed $ 4 million in back pay. City & County governments were also having a bad time. • Richard Russell provided GA with a more efficient government. The office of governor gained more power, specially over the spending of State money.

18. Causes of The Great Depression • The stock market crash was the most dramatic, but there were earlier signs of an economic concern • Farming income shrank throughout the previous decade. • Textile, lumber, mining, and railroad industries declined. • There was a lag in orders for cars and construction materials, so companies had to start laying off employees. With less income many Americans stopped spending.

19. Causes of The Great Depression • In 1929 less than 1 Percent of the population owned nearly one-third of the countries wealth. • 75 % of Americans were living at a poverty level. • People were buying with credit (money that they don’t have.) • Banks failed because people couldn’t pay back their loans. Large banks suffered huge losses in the stock market crash. 9,000 banks closed across the country and millions of people lost all of their money.

20. Eugene Talmadge • Eugene Talmadge championed for the small farmers and preached the ideals of thrift, hard work, and self-reliance. He was popular with rural white voters. • Abuse of power: Talmadge pressured some officials, threatened to withhold salaries of others, and suspended still others. He even imposed martial law and had the national Guard remove certain officials from their offices in order to keep his campaign promises. • Georgians were outraged by the governor’s use of rewards and punishments. Newspapers attacked him, but many voters applauded his strong actions. • Talmadge continues to influence GA politics for another decade.

21. The New Deal • Popular title given to the various recovery programs developed during President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration to end the Great Depression. • Three Aims of the New Deal. -- Relief Programs – aimed at providing help to millions of unemployed -- Recovery Programs – aimed at helping the economy get back on its feet. --Reform Programs – aimed at making changes in the way Americans did business

22. Programs of the New Deal

23. Eugene Talmadge & the New Deal • Talmadge was against the New Deal. • He disagreed with the minimum wage requirement. • He felt that it would hurt private businesses by paying too high of a wage. • He also said that it would threaten white supremacy by giving blacks equal pay to whites.

24. Ellis Arnall & Reform • POWERS/JOBS TAKEN FROM THE GOVORNOR: • Removed from the board of regents that ran the state’s public schools. • Cannot remove elected officials from office or to remove salaries. • Power to pardon convicted criminals taken away. • Power to veto taken away. • Reduced the powers of Governor and asked for the GA Constitution to be rewritten. • The previous “redeemer” Constitution of 1877 had been amended over 300 times!

25. The Coming of WWII • German economy lay in ruin because of the War debts from WWI & the harsh treatments from the Treaty of Versailles. • Nazi’s come into power in Germany and began preaching nationalism and Arian Supremacy.

26. Nazi’s Rise to Power • The Nazi’s rearmed the German military and began to threaten Europe. • European countries begin to practice the policy of appeasement toward Hitler’s advancements into Europe. • Gradual German Encroachment into European countries (Austria, and parts of Czechoslovakia, then Poland)

29. World War II • America Enters the War • Bombing of Pearl Harbor • Invasion of Normandy, France • Invasion of the Pacific Islands surrounding Japan. • America drops the Atomic bomb on two major cities in Japan.

30. Hitler surrenders to the Allies in May, 1945 • Japan surrenders to the Allies in August, 1945 • Peace conference held between Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin before the war’s end. Called the “Yalta Conference”

31. The Holocaust • Concentration Camps discovered all over Europe where 11 million people were exterminated during the War years.

32. Results of the War • United States Emerges as a world power, “police of the world” • Germany is split into East and West Germany, with occupation of Germany lasting for decades. Berlin was occupied until the mid 1980’s.

33. Georgia’s Contribution to the War • Over 320,000 Georgians volunteered or were drafted into the military between 1941 -1945. • Georgia also provided places to train soldiers. Ft. Benning, the world’s largest infantry. • Due to GA’s climate, cheap land, extensive rail network, deep-water ports, and numerous farms and mills to feed and clothe soldiers.

34. Georgia’s Economy during WWII • Factories and mills switched to production of military equipment and supplies. • Car makers changed to building tanks, jeeps, and other military vehicles. • Bell Aircraft Corporation built a B-29 plant in Marietta, GA employing 20,000 civilian workers. Also shipyards for building naval vessels & weapons plants.

35. Industry for Georgians • WWII was very expensive. • Georgia had turned to military production, and thousands of new jobs were created. • During the war, the annual income for the average Georgian doubled. • This trend continues after the war.

36. Talmadge & Roosevelt • Talmadge openly called Roosevelt a socialist. • He disagreed with many items of the New Deal saying it threatened Georgian’s “way of life.” • He also prepared to challenge Roosevelt for the Presidency.

37. Roosevelt and Georgia • FDR has come regularly to Warm Springs, GA for polio treatment. • He established his “Little White House” there in Warm Springs, which made him special in the eyes of many Georgians.